The Long Road Home
by Luna Peachie
Summary: Restless after winning Hoover Dam for the NCR, Courier Six once again heads out for another adventure. Walking down a road less traveled, Six stumbles upon a confused scientist named Carlos, who is looking for a way home. But where is home? Can Six help Carlos return to Night Vale? What really lies beyond the oak doors? And what's this about a creepy Smiling Man walking the wastes?
1. The Scientist

_The Long Road Home_

The Scientist

Nights in the Mojave were usually calm. Cool weather and the occasional caw of a four-eyed vulture were a nice change from the blistering heat and the war cries of a band of Legion assassins. It was moments like this that the citizens of the Mojave Wastelands enjoyed. Moments like this were a commodity that caravanners paid good money to armed guards to have during their travels. The stars, the wind, and maybe the occasional rustle of a mutated gecko foraging for food were worth it just to get a little peace.

It was nights like this that the Courier usually kept her Pip-Boy 3000's radio off. Just the sound of her boots on the broken pavement. Her real name was unimportant and most didn't care to ask, anyway. The only person who asked for her real name was since arriving in the Mojave was a doctor in Goodsprings that yanked a bullet out of her head. It was best that no one knew her real name anyway. Going by this nickname suited her, though. Couriers didn't even use their real names when taking jobs. She was designated "Courier Six" by the Mojave Express and that's the name she used for years after. Sometimes she shortened it to just "Six" or "The Courier".

On nights like this, Six preferred to walk.

She had homes in New Vegas, Novac, and one out in a crater that she couldn't talk about (for weird "sciency" reasons, she often said), but her motel room in Novac was usually where most found her. It was simple and so were the people of Novac. The people and the atmosphere were not the only reasons she lingered in Novac. Some folk in town said it looked like she was waiting for something, or someone. Some of the older citizens often asked Six, "Who ran off with your heart?" with a laugh which she ignored.

After Hoover Dam, and after the Bright Followers left for a second time, Novac grew slowly from a little "oasis" along the road into what counted as an actual town in the Mojave. The influx of tired soldiers passing through on their way back to California was a big boon for the town and it eventually became a somewhat-thriving community. The rumors of Deathclaws along the Long 15 still lingered and the battle-weary soldiers were not looking to fight anymore, so they took the long way. Bad for their tired legs, good for Novac.

The Second Battle of Hoover Dam had done a number on her. After letting the NCR iron out the details of annexation and corpse clean-up, Six semi-retired to Novac. "At least for now." She often told herself. Six wasn't one to stay settled down for long, but needed this rest. She felt she had explored all she could around the New Vegas area of the Mojave and wanted to see more. But she had seen more than most people would see.

Six had seen almost everything. Six had traveled the Mojave, been to almost all corners of it. She had been forced to go treasure hunting in a dead city for a madman. She had been to Zion and remembered it too fondly. She had been a lab rat for some "eccentric" scientists. She had traveled down the lonesome road. She still wanted to go farther out into the wastes and see what was there.

This was perfect timing, as an agent with the NCR asked her to do just that one day. It was the reason she was out here enjoying this wonderful evening. They were paying her good caps just to walk and report to them if she found anything interesting. She was glad she didn't agree to be paid based on what she found, because so far all she had found was rocks, dirt, and various mutated desert fauna.

Six wasn't entirely sure what the NCR really wanted her to find. The Mojave was filled with old world towns picked clean by prospectors or bandits just waiting to pick any traveler clean. She left Novac earlier that morning and walked south along the roads. She didn't mind being a scout, as it sure beat being a soldier. She was a courier, just without the parcel. Or maybe the parcel was something metaphysical like discovery or some stupid thing like that.

"The road less traveled…" she murmured, as she walked down the road. She didn't finish that statement when she noticed a turn-off on the road. Six knew she had been this way many times before and she knew this road wasn't there last time she walked this way. In fact, as far as she knew, this road shouldn't even have been there. It looked like any other road, as far as she knew, but the spirit of adventure often beckoned her into strange places. So, with a skip in her step, Six walked down the quite literal road less traveled.

Surprisingly, no one bothered her on this road. She wasn't sure which road she was on, as most roads in the Wasteland looked the same. Six glanced at her Pip-Boy map and cocked an eyebrow. She thought it was quite strange that her map wasn't showing anything. She tapped it a few times and the screen only flickered.

"Weird…" she mumbled, looking up at a broken, bent street lamp. "Though that word is used pretty loosely nowadays." Six put her hands in her pockets and kept walking. Maybe there was another reason she had to leaving Novac. It wasn't like she was waiting for someone. At least, that's what she told anyone who asked. Luckily, no one really asked.

Six reached into her pack and pulled out her little canteen. She wasn't sure how she acquired this canteen. It had the number 13 engraved on the side, but it was sturdy and it served her well. She looked up as she took a swig and smiled. The lights above sparkled in colors she hadn't seen before. She had heard of something called "Aurora Borealis" and had seen a few old pictures of it, but the Mojave was too far south for anything like that to happen. So why was she seeing it now?

She didn't notice her Pip-Boy flickering again. The lights were too entrancing. She hadn't even noticed she walked off the road a little ways. Though not the most unusual thing she had ever seen in her travels, it was certainly interesting. She sometimes saw these lights over one of the abandoned stops along her walks. She wasn't sure what it used to be, as the sign had fallen off years ago. But Six felt she understood what the lights meant, even if she wasn't thinking about it.

Six left this mindset when she looked down for a moment and saw an old oak door. Seeing ruins of old houses along the roads wasn't unusual, but she found it slightly amusing that only the door of this house survived the war. It just stood there, no house around it. No wood, no crumbled layout, just the door. She circled the door a few times and laughed again. She was actually quite surprised no one had come across this door before. Because if they had, they would be thinking the same thing she was at that moment.

Six pressed the tip of her index finger against the door and pushed it, waiting for the satisfying "WHOMP" sound it would make as it fell to the ground. Six was taken slightly off guard when she noticed it didn't budge an inch. She scratched her chin a bit. There was no door frame or hinges, so she wasn't sure how this door was staying up. Though not the strangest thing she had ever encountered in her journeys, it was certainly something to ponder.

"Maybe…" she mumbled, circling the door again. "…maybe it's been here so long, it's sunk into the ground." Six laid flat on the ground and tried to examine the door's bottom. As far as she could tell, the door hadn't sunk into the ground. It looked like any old door one could just open and walk through. The wood didn't looked warped from years of being exposed to the sun like most of the doors Six had seen, and it still showed no signs of falling over. It looked like it was just there to be there.

It was at that moment, Six noticed the doorknob jiggling. The doorknob, though looking old, wasn't chipping or losing its bolting like most doors were. Six stepped back, pulled out her pistol, Lil' Devil, and aimed at the door. She wasn't sure why she was doing this, but she could sense danger. As the door opened, her Pip-Boy started to flash again.

The door opened slowly, as if it were connected to a frame and hinges, and out stepped a man in a lab coat. He looked disheveled and panicked, as if he was eager to get through this door. He closed the door eagerly as a large "THUMP" sound came from the other side. He breathed heavily and pressed himself against the door. This man, who had an identification badge pinned to his coat that read "Carlos", sank to the ground, not noticing Six or her gun.

The man, "Carlos", looked to be of Hispanic descent with black hair that looked like it hadn't been brushed in a while. He looked young, though had a few grey streaks on his temples. He was handsome, in a mysterious type of way, but he didn't exactly run off with Six's heart like a certain other man did upon first meeting. He pulled a strange rectangle device out of his lab coat pocket and pressed a few buttons. He murmured what sounded like; "I'll try again in ten minutes" before putting it back in his pocket.

At that moment, "Carlos" looked up and noticed Six and her gun. He shrieked loudly and guarded his face. "Don't shoot! I come in peace! I didn't take your treasure! I was just examining it!"

Six noticed she still had her gun pointed at him and holstered it. Six approached him slowly and held her hand out. "I'm not going to hurt you." She said, leaning down to help him up. "The way things are around here, it'd be crazy not to draw first."

"Carlos", once he stopped panicking, unshielded his face and looked Six over. She was of average build, if not somewhat hip heavy, and wore a tan jacket with almost matching greyish pants and boots. Desert nights get cold, so he understood why she wore these. Her black hair, almost the same color as his without the grey on the temples, was shiny and placed in a messy bun on the back of her head. He couldn't tell what color her eyes were. "Carlos" propped himself against the oak door and took Six's hand. Using the door as leverage and with Six's help, "Carlos" stood up. He dusted himself off and looked around.

"More desert…not surprising." He mumbled. "Most of the doors lead to some kind of desert. At least this time there was no singing munchkins."

Six cocked an eyebrow and put her hand on her hip. "You…came from that door!" she shouted, pointing to the door.

"Carlos" looked behind himself and then back at Six. "Yes, I did." He answered, as if that was the standard answer for coming through a door to nowhere. He walked past Six, as if she wasn't even there, and took out the rectangle again, along with another device. He pushed a few buttons on the rectangle and held it to his mouth.

"Log Entry #45: Concerning the oak door phenomenon, I have come through another door into another desert. There is only one that I see, but I'm pretty sure there another somewhere nearby. I'm also picking up strange amounts of radiation in this desert, far more than one would deem healthy, but I seem to be alright. The last door took me to a very horrible place and I'd rather not discuss it in detail. Note to future self: Next time one of the citizens of a city say don't touch the sacred temple treasure: DO NOT TOUCH THE SACRED TEMPLE TREASURE! I was lucky to find another door when I did. Sometimes, there are lots of doors, when most of the time, there is only one other. So, my hypothesis about at least two existing in each universe might be correct. It might take some further study, though. These doors lead to a seemingly infinite number of different universes; just like that woman in the blue old-timey dress told me a few doors ago. More on that later, though."

"Carlos" pressed a red button on his rectangle and shoved it back into his pocket. He noticed Six staring at him and cleared his throat. "Oh, yes…sorry, I forgot you were here. I'm Carlos." Carlos, now that Six was sure this was his name, held his hand out and shook hers. "What's your name, ma'am?"

Six nodded and looked at him closely. "Courier Six. But most just call me Six. Where are you from, Carlos?" she asked.

Carlos looked around and then back at Six. "Well, that'd take too long to explain. Is everyone named with numbers in this world?" he asked, examining the landscape.

Six shook her head, though not sure what he meant by "this world". "No, I'm a Courier with the Mojave Express. Kind of a free-lance agent, anyway. Couriers go by numbers, and mine is six. So, people usually just call me Six. It's easier that way. I only use my real name when I sign papers."

Carlos looked even more confused now. "Mojave Express? Is that some kind of delivery service?" he asked, examining an agave plant.

"Yes, in a way. We deliver all over the desert. I've been everywhere at least once, I believe." Six seemed pretty sure of herself and sat down on a rock. "Well, except around here. I was hired by the NCR to do some scout work. Ever since they took Hoover Dam, they've been sending scouts all over the place."

Carlos looked up from the rock he was examining. "Hoover Dam? So, I'm at least in Nevada, so…" Carlos's unsure expression slowly changed into a big grin and he jumped for joy, clicking his heels together as he jumped. Six watched this with an unsure look on her face. "I must have made it back to my world!" Carlos grabbed Six and danced around with her. It wasn't so much dancing as it was just twirling around. "I knew I'd eventually find my way back! Now, all I have to do is find a way back to Night Vale and I'll finally be home! I can't wait to see Cecil!" Carlos stopped twirling and looked at the dizzy courier. "Can you direct me to the nearest bus station? I can pay for my own way back, I just need directions!"

The big smile on Carlos's face didn't last long. Six just stared at him. "Bus…station?" she asked, looking around. She knew what a bus was, and she knew what a bus station was. There were plenty of bus stops in Freeside, but a bus that worked or hadn't been hollowed out as someone's home was a rare, pretty much nonexistent, sight.

Carlos sighed. "Alright, how about a car? Do you have a car? I'll pay for gas, I just need to get back!"

Again, Six just stared at him. Carlos's good feeling was slowly turning into a bad, pit of the stomach type of sick feeling. Six put her hands in her pockets and shrugged. "I've seen plenty of cars, but none of them are what you would call 'working'. Cars haven't been a viable mode of transportation for hundreds of years. I mean, I've seen a few working out in California, but they don't go too far. Most people use caravans and wagons to get around. Or, like most including myself, they just hoof it." Six pointed to her feet when she said that.

Carlos thought for a moment and looked at his rectangle again. "No Wi-Fi signal; I've only encountered this a few times."

"What's a 'Wi-Fi'?" Six asked.

As if being asked if the Earth is round, Carlos looked at Six with shocked expression that reminded Six of a Brahmin about to be shot. It was at that moment that Six noticed Carlo's strange rectangle had a screen on it not unlike her Pip-Boy. "Hey, what model of Pip-Boy is that?" Six asked, pointing to Carlos's rectangle.

"Pip-Boy?" He asked, looking over his rectangle. "This is a Samsung Galaxy S5. I just bought it a few months ago. What's a Pip-Boy?"

Six lifted her wrist and showed Carlos the device on her wrist. Carlos examined the device, twisting Six's wrist around and nodding while mumbling to himself. She watched him as he pressed buttons, fiddled with the locking mechanism, and twisted her wrist some more. Scared he was going to pull off her arm, Six slowly took her hand back. "I'm not surprised you've never seen one, but I'm a little fascinated that you've never heard of a Pip-Boy." said Six, rubbing her wrist. "Almost everyone's heard of a Pip-Boy. You see them a lot on people who used to live in vaults."

Carlos just blinked. "Vaults? Like a bank vault? Or some kind of archive?"

Six blinked. "I guess so; I've only seen a few of them. How can you not know what a vault is?"

"How can you not know what Wi-Fi is?" Carlos retorted.

"Fair enough, I'll give you that." Six walked over to the rock that Carlos had been examining and sat on it. He looked like he was trying to stop her from doing so. "If you're worried about radiation, don't be. Everything is a little irradiated. So, you came through that weird door. Did the Brains at Big MT send you?"

Carlos found a long near the rock and carefully sat on in. "The What at Where?" he asked, eyebrow cocked.

"Well, I assumed, since you literally came from nowhere, that something exploded at Big MT and what was left landed here." Six pointed to the door. It was still standing there; as if it was listening to them talk. "They think they conditioned me to not talk about that place, but they're kind of…well, they're the dumbest geniuses you'll ever meet. That is, if you ever have the misfortune of meeting them."

Carlos rubbed his forehead and looked around. "Well, this obviously Earth and this is obviously the United States, or at least some equivalent of it."

Six laughed softly. "These states haven't been a united anything in over two hundred years. There are territories and what not, but nothing resembling what it used to be."

Carlos started to shake. "What year is it?" he asked, dropping his rectangle.

"It's late 2281, my good man." Six announced, as if she was happy to say that.

The man calling himself Carlos fell off his stump and to his knees at that point. His entire body shook and he glanced up at Six again. His eyes, Six thought, were the same color as the bark on the trees in Zion. She decided to go there again soon, just to check on things. "How…" he mumbled after a long silence. "…how long have I been gone? My phone says it's only been a month but how could over two hundred years have already gone by?" Carlos stood up and grabbed Six by her coat and shook her. "WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?!"

Six pushed Carlos away and dusted herself off. "Madness is a word that gets a lot of use nowadays, but panicking isn't going to help you. I can, though. But you'll have to calm down first!"

After a few minutes of heavy breathing, Carlos got a hold of himself. He stood perfectly still and let out a long puff of air. "Alright, Carlos, get it together. You're a scientist and there is a rational, completely not insane explanation for all of this. Be reasonable! You graduated at the top of your class for crying out loud! If I can handle the Glow Cloud, the multicolored Helicopters, the 'Angels', and being chased by those StrexCorp drones across a desert wasteland than I can certainly handle being over two hundred years in…"

It got quiet again as Carlos fell to his knees again in what Six would later describe as pathetic anguish. All that was heard was the howl of a distant coyote. Six really wanted to feel sympathetic to this man. He seemed nice enough and didn't look like the usual crackpot she often found wandering in the desert spouting nonsense. There was no rhyme or reason behind the things this man was saying. But when it came to the Mojave, there was rarely rhyme or reason for anything. She had certainly seen her share of strange things, but this door that produced a panicking scientist was pretty high on the list. She couldn't say he topped it, but he was high up there.

"Listen, you said something about different worlds and stuff? Can't you just go back through that door and back to…wherever it is you came from?" Six asked, not fully understanding what she was saying.

Carlos shook his head. "No, no, I'd rather not do that. The doors are one way, it seems. If I go back through that door, it just goes back to the previous world. Trust me, I've tried. I need to find another door and just keep going until I find my original door or some other way home."

"Yeah, because that makes perfect sense." Six whispered, hoping Carlos couldn't hear. Six put her hand on Carlos's shoulder and tried to smile. "Well, why don't you tell me about your 'world' and I'll see if I can help without getting the floating brains involved."

Not sure what she was talking about, Carlos just nodded. "Well, the best place to start would be when I first arrived in Night Vale two years ago. I came with my team to research the town. It's quite a strange place, let's just say, and it's the most scientifically interesting place in the country. They always tell you never let your personal feelings get in the way of progress, but that's exactly what happened. What was supposed to be just a yearlong project turned into…well…it turned into home."

Six sighed and nodded. "I hear you there." She pulled her pack close to her and opened it. "Want something to drink? I have Nuka-Cola, Sunset Sarsaparilla, some moonshine my friend Cass made for me, and some purified water." Six held up a clear bottle and Carlos reached for it. He didn't open it, he just cradled it. "I felt the same way when I first came to Novac. The town, admittedly, is a dump. I never in a million years would have imagined staying there for any reason. But now, whenever I leave out for some type of journey or a job, it's all I can think about. I sometimes wonder if he came back and if he's posted in that damn dinosaur like when we met."

"Who?" asked Carlos, opening his bottle of water.

Six snapped out of her day dream and shook her head. "Oh, just a friend I made. A close friend…" Six blushed and then looked back at Carlos. "Now, how about we get off his cold ground and get a move on?"

Carlos sipped his water and put the cap back on. "Move on? To where?" he asked.

"Well, I think the first thing we should do is find another one of these doors." said Six, pointing to the still stationary oak door.

Carlos nodded and picked up his rectangle. Carlos seemed to have made a friend. He was surprisingly good at that for reasons he didn't know. He put his rectangle back in his lab coat pocket and watched as Six pressed some buttons on her Pip-Boy. She walked over to the door and circled it a few times. The Pip-Boy flashed from amber to green a few times, though Six didn't seem to notice. "We should probably head back toward Novac. From there, we could probably get some kind of information over the ham radios about any randomly appearing Old World doors."

"Old world?" Carlos asked.

Six didn't answer. She was too busy fiddling around with her Pip-Boy. "Damn map..." she mumbled. "For some reason, my map screen isn't working. It's been acting up since I first turned down this road. You know, it's funny, but I've been traveling the Mojave for a while and I felt like I've been down every road in the New Vegas area, but this area is pretty weird. A few moments after I stepped onto this new road, my radio function starts acting up."

Carlos found it amusing that Six wandered over toward a rock some yards behind the oak door and held her hand into the air. Carlos had no idea what this world was, but his scientific mind made him want to know more about it. While he didn't doubt his new friend's claims, he doubted that this world was indeed his. It was a feeling he often got when he was a child and his family went on vacation; he never felt truly comfortable in a hotel room at the beach. It was a mixture of anxiousness and security. While he knew the hotels were friendly, it didn't have that secure feeling his room had. When his family moved, he knew this new place was home, but it didn't feel like home until much later. He had the same feeling when he first came to Night Vale two years ago.

But he knew where his home was. He knew where his home was going to be, which made moving easier as a child. But this place didn't have that feeling. It was a weird out-of-place feeling that not even Night Vale gave him, and to him that was saying something. He had felt that way in the other "worlds" as well.

Carlos watched in odd amusement as Six wandered around the area of the door with her hand stuck in the air. He thought she looked like a radio antenna, but all he heard was static, but he noticed something weird when she walked away from the door. Her Pip-Boy would stop flashing green and amber and start flashing purple. He wasn't sure what functions the Pip-Boys had, and he made a mental note to ask Six if he could examine it more closely later, but he didn't think purple was a color scheme option.

"Wait!" Carlos shouted, running toward Six. Six stopped in her tracks and watched as Carlos once again took her arm and pointed it in different directions. He walked her over to a big rock and stopped. "No, that's not it." He mumbled. He walked Six toward a dying cactus and pointed her hand toward it and shook his head. It wasn't until Carlos walked with Six away from the oak door and toward the road that something started to happen. Six looked up at her Pip-Boy in amazement.

"It's never shown that color before!" she shouted as Carlos walked her onto the pavement. A musical tone that Six had never heard before came through the static of the radio and she watched as Carlos's smile spread across his face. "Please, please, please…" Carlos pleaded, as they walked further down the road. A soothing, somewhat comforting, voice came onto the radio. To Carlos's astonishment and Six's confusion, it wasn't Mr. New Vegas and he wasn't announcing the news.

"_A friendly desert community where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass overhead while we all pretend to sleep. Welcome to Night Vale…"_

* * *

**Hi, hi! Just call me Luna Peachie!**

**So, here's my second attempt at a crossover. My last one, a Portal and Skyrim crossover, didn't pan out so well. Well, c'est la vie as they say. I'm hoping this one will do better. I love the Fallout universe and I love the Welcome to Night Vale universe. So, one night, as I was participating in a live stream for the latest episode, I started thinking: Night Vale would fit into the Fallout universe pretty well. Is there a mod on Nexus featuring Night Vale?"**

**Sadly there was not. But I think, if there ever was one, going to a certain place at midnight and hearing your Pip-Boy's radio signal suddenly shut off (or turn on if it was off) and you hear Cecil's voice over the radio, that'd be awesome. Quests involving things around Night Vale and it somehow integrating into the Fallout Universe would be pretty awesome, if you ask me. But, as I am not a programmer of any type, I decided to write this instead.**

**Fun, yes?**

**Well, this is only chapter one and I hope, with enough reviews and such, to make more chapters. So, what do you say? Shall I continue this? I really want to. Tell me how I did! Oh! And while you're at it, check out my Tumblr! I post all kinds of neat things on there and I give updates on my fics and such as well.**

**Lunapeachielovesyou dot tumblr dot com is the way to go!**

**Fallout belongs to Bethesda and Welcome to Night Vale belongs to Commonplace Books.**


	2. A Different Frequency

_The Long Road Home_

A Different Frequency

The late desert night quiet was interrupted by the celebratory yelling and shouting of the man dancing in the lab coat. A nearby sleeping bighorner mother woke up with her calf still nestled nearby, and looked over at this display with tired contempt. The gecko, walking by with a dead cazadore in its mouth, found this spectacle odd as well. It was lucky for the confused Courier with her hand stuck in the air that no human, ghoul, or super mutant was passing by because this would have been embarrassing.

While she didn't appreciate being treated like a radio antenna, Six still smiled as Carlos celebrated. She had no idea why he was celebrating, but she still smiled nonetheless. Carlos shook her a few times and then hugged her tightly. Six was even more confused.

"It's him!" Carlos shouted. "He's okay! When I couldn't get back through the door to Night Vale, I was worried but he's okay! Cecil's okay and Night Vale is okay and I'm okay!" Carlos danced around again and then stopped when he saw Six just staring at him. He looked like a prospector that had come across an empty vault with many old world goodies inside. Carlos quickly composed himself and cleared his throat. He straightened his jacket and nodded. "Yes, quite intriguing." He muttered, dusting Six off.

Six attempted to put her arm down but Carlos stopped her. "My arm is getting tired. What is so important about that radio transmission?" she asked.

Carlos slowly helped Six's arm down and studied her Pip-Boy. It was still glowing purple and he could hear the voice clearly. The voice sounded worried but still went on with the news. Six didn't know what frequency this was, as she had never heard this radio show before. "Tell me, this 'Pip-Boy' thing has a radio function, that's been established, but can it tell us where this frequency is coming from?" Carlos asked. He was slightly disappointed to see Six shake her head.

Six sat back down on the rock and half-listened to the voice on her radio. The voice was soothingly deep, with just a hint of condescendence in it. Something about this strange voice relaxed Six enough to make her look up at the sky again. The lights were back and she smiled softly. She understood, but at the same time, she didn't ask why. Carlos eventually realized that Six wasn't listening to his rambling theories and looked up as well.

"The lights…" he murmured, plopping down on the ground.

"I think it's called 'Aurora Borealis' or something like that." Six mumbled, still staring upward. "I've heard of it in my travels, but I didn't think it actually came this far south."

"It doesn't." Carlos corrected. "The Northern Lights don't naturally happen this far south. It's impossible. But these lights defy all science. These lights I've seen many times before. They are usually over the Arby's near my lab. It was there that I finally realized…"

Six looked at Carlos, who looked like he was about to cry. "Realized what?" she asked.

"We understand the lights. We understand everything. Night Vale isn't just a city. It's a way of life. I finally understood that day, when I fought the underground warmongers. When they nearly killed me, I kept thinking about my family, my work, and him."

"Him?" Six asked, suddenly interested.

"At first, I dismissed it as a crush and went about my work. But it wasn't until I thought I was going to die and worried I would never see him again that I realized it was more for both of us. I asked him, once I escaped the underground city, to meet me at the Arby's near my lab. We stared at the lights together and we understood." Carlos took out his weird rectangle again and made a few motions with his thumb. "It's everything and nothing at the same time. The town, the people, him…but it is home…"

Carlos showed Six his rectangle and it confused her. There was a picture of a man on it, like in a picture frame. What kind of tech was this? The picture was of a pretty good looking man. Not short, not tall, and a very weird smile. He was a normal looking guy by any other account. Six thought he looked kind of like her friend, Arcade Gannon. She missed Arcade, but decided to leave that discussion for another time. "So, that rectangle is a picture frame?" she asked, pressed her hand on the rectangle. She swiped her finger and made the picture disappear. She gasped when she saw the picture change into that of a building and a group of people in lab coats posing in front of it.

Looking at his rectangle, Carlos chuckled and pressed a button that made it go black. "Surely you've heard of cell phones? I mean, this is the future after all, even after an apocalypse there has to be some record of past inventions. I mean, that thing on your wrist is almost like my phone."

Six blinked. "That rectangle can be used as a phone? Working phones are pretty rare outside of military bases. Can't imagine how that thing could function without a cord."

Carlos felt dizzy. "These are the latest tech in my time! Surely you have to know about it!"

"What year are you from?" Six asked.

"2014!" Carlos shouted.

Six blinked again. Carlos felt like he was talking to a wall. He might as well have been. Six reached into her pack and took out some of the homemade moonshine. "I think you might want a little nip, my friend. Going through that door might have scrambled something."

Carlos refused. "No, no, bathtub alcohol won't help."

Six shrugged and took a swig. "Cass isn't one for bathtub gin. I'm pretty sure she made this in a sink. But Cass can brew up anything if you give her enough ingredients. I make it a personal rule not to drink too much of whatever she makes. I'm pretty sure this stuff also doubles as wood varnish." Six took another swig for good luck and put the bottle back in her pack. Six watched as Carlos pressed more buttons on his rectangle and put it to his ear while looking anxiously at the sky. Six could swear she heard some voice telling Carlos there "was no service in your area" and to "please try again later".

With a frustrated groan, Carlos fell back and stared at the sky. "So, I'm not in the future of my world, am I?" he asked, not actually expecting an answer.

Feeling sympathetic, Six lay down beside him and stared at the lights too. "I don't think so. None of what you're telling me makes any sense and I've listened to my share of crazies during my travels." Six put her hands on her stomach and stared at the sky. "So, you know the voice coming from my Pip-Boy?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

Carlos nodded. "Yes, that's Cecil. He's the radio announcer in Night Vale. He's pretty well known. Well, there at least. He's…also my boyfriend."

Six turned her head to Carlos and then turned it back to the sky. "Ahh, I see." She mumbled. "So, why are you here and not there with him?" she asked.

"I am here because of my damnable scientific curiosity. I had to know about the doors. I didn't think I'd be leaving more than just my home behind." Carlos sighed again. "I'm going to assume that, as a courier, you know what it's like to be away from the ones you love." He looked over at Six, who seemed to be agreeing with him.

It got quiet again as Six and Carlos stared at the lights. The Pip-Boy still flashed purple and the soothing voice still spoke. "I wish there was a way I could get you back to your Night Vale. I mean, if this is a divergent of your world, the Night Vale here could be an entirely different place."

Carlos sat up at that moment. "What did you say?" he asked.

"Night Vale of this world?" she asked back.

Carlos got up and shouted happily. "That's it!" he shouted. "This is Earth, so even if this is another realm entirely, there might still be a version of Night Vale here! If I can find it, maybe I can find a way to get back to my Night Vale!"

Six decided not to argue the holes in Carlos's plan. She let him be happy for this one moment. She felt he needed it. Six glanced at her Pip-Boy for a moment and then back at Carlos. Six stood up, happily refused Carlos's invitation to dance again, and tapped her Pip-Boy. She decided to hear what the broadcast had to say.

"_-this has been traffic. Listeners, a lot of you remember the…unspeakable uprising we do not speak of. If there are any listeners out there who know of the whereabouts of our community's favorite scientist, Carlos, please call the station immediately. The other night, as I was lying in bed, I thought I heard him. I thought I heard Carlos. I thought I heard him say, 'Cecil, I'm okay!' but I saw no one. His side of the bed was bare again. His pillow was cold. His pillow was a cold as the desert night, and just as empty. He hasn't called in so long. I'm scared something has happened. Carlos, if you're out there…please come home…"_

Six didn't realize that Carlos was listening to the broadcast too. Carlos grabbed Six's wrist and shouted at the Pip-Boy. "Cecil! I'm Okay! Wait for me!" he shouted before Six took her wrist back.

"_-wait, did anyone else hear that? Was that…Carlos? Carlos, was that you?"_

"Yes, it's me! Cecil, I'm okay! I've found someone who can help me! I'll find you!" Carlos yelled at Six's arm.

"Please stop that." Six rubbed her wrist and put her arm back down. "If any of your panicked jabbering is true, then maybe it's time we set out for this place. Let me see if I can find it on my map." Six pressed a button on her Pip-Boy and glanced closely. "I don't see any landmarks nearby, and according to this, there aren't any towns close by, either. But that transmission has to be coming from somewhere. So, if your Night Vale does have a version here, it has to be at least within a hundred miles."

Carlos starting running toward the road with renewed vigor. "The let's go!" he shouted.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Six shouted. "We don't even know which direction to go in." As if on cue, a little purple blip got Six's attention from her Pip-Boy. Six looked at her Pip-Boy and cocked an eyebrow. She pressed a button and squinted, then pulled her face back. Carlos came back toward her at this point. "That's strange." She mumbled. "A second ago, there wasn't anything on my map. Now, it says there is some kind of settlement down the road a few miles."

Carlos grabbed Six's wrist again and stared at the Pip-Boy. That was starting to annoy her. She made a mental note to find him a Pip-Boy somehow so he'll stop taking her arm. Carlos went back to his rectangle and pressed some buttons. "Nope, Google Maps isn't working. Looks like your Pip-thingy is our map."

Six would be lying if she said she wasn't finding Carlos slightly annoying at this point. But she wasn't one the question adventure. Maybe, once he found his Night Vale or got some sleep, Six figured Carlos would be much calmer. "Hey, maybe we should sit down and rest."

"There's no time!" Carlos shouted. "There is a whole world to explore while we find Night Vale! I want you to tell me all about this place. I'm going to log it with the other worlds I've visited. I want the history of this place and I want to take sample and…" he trailed off like that as Six struggled to keep up. She smiled and followed as closely as possible. They had a ways to walk according to her map, but she took it with stride as she always did.

The unmarked location seemed to pulsate as she stared at the screen. Six had walked into the unknown before, but something told her this was about to get weird.

* * *

Miles away, far from the lights and their understanding warmth, a camp sat near a hill. The only light from that camp was a fire with red tents around it. A Legion Slaver party once occupied these tents with their catch of the day in binds. Much to their eventual horror, the slaver party soon found out that binds weren't enough for this. Most of the time, these raids went without fail. Along with new captures, the raiders would find supplies and even weapons.

It was risky for the Legion to be this close to NCR territory. But there was risk in everything. When the NCR took Hoover Dam again, the majority of the Legion was forced back east. Caesar didn't take this defeat sitting down. It was more humiliating than the first time they'd lost the dam. Now, to hear that his best legate was struck down by a woman in the name of the New California Republic was the greatest insult. His army, though still vast, needed to be replenished and he knew that some recruits needed to be forced into volunteering their services to him.

However, this time wasn't a typical raid. It was supposed to be, though. They easily outnumbered this man three-to-one and he didn't even put up a fight when they grabbed him. It couldn't have been easier if the man had simply walked up and tied himself up. He might as well have. Most captures didn't talk much, besides the begging to be set free or for water. Despite how tight his bindings were, this man still smiled. Despite the Legionaries shouting insults at him, the man still smiled. When they asked him what was wrong with his eyes, that's when things got messy.

"My, what lovely teeth!" the Smiling Man shouted, holding the last surviving Legionary by the throat. "You know, it's quite a shame. I've been through so many of those doors, and I've talked to so many people, including those really interesting twins in the old-timey clothes, but I've never been to a place a nice as this."

The Smiling Man squeezed the Legionary's throat tight. "But I miss my home. I'm from a lovely little burg called Desert Bluffs. Have you heard of it?" The Smiling Man gripped the poor man's throat tighter, keeping him from nodding or shaking his head. "Oh, I think you'd love it there! It's always so warm and sunny, and you'd make a wonderful StrexCorp employee! They are always hiring. Always…" the grip got tighter and the poor soldier gasped for air. "…hiring…"

The entire camp had been splattered with the organs and blood of the Legion Slavers and now it was barely recognizable as any kind of camp at all. The Smiling Man blinked a few times and glared down at the poor soldier, who would have been crying if he could. "It's nice to take a vacation, though. I love traveling, meeting new people, collecting souvenirs, you know, vacation stuff. I can see so much in your eyes, but I wonder if you're really seeing at all. May I try them out?"

All that was heard for miles was the painful screams of the poor legionary. He fell to the ground, holding his bleeding face. The Smiling Man looked down at the soldier and made a soft tsking noise. "Now, don't be such a Negative Nancy! We don't like complainers at StrexCorp! You need to learn how to be a team player! Let's start with some more sharing exercises! If you share your teeth with me, I'll give you back your eyes!"

More screaming and the legionary fell to the ground, dead. Shock and blood loss seemed to be this poor soul's undoing. "Oh, foo! Not again! Oh Kevin, if your new friends keep doing this, you'll never have anyone to hang out with while you're here!" The Smiling Man laughed. The Smiling Man turned around and saw his handy work. Everything was covered in blood or viscera, just the way he liked it. "Now, this is how you decorate a camp! Take notes, fellas! A camping trip is a team effort! We must all pitch in and do our parts!"

The Smiling Man laughed and shrugged softly. He sat on a log around the fire and stared at the stars above. "What a clear sky. It reminds me of my beloved Desert Bluffs. Oh, how I miss my little burg in the sands. I just hope I can complete all that piled up work waiting for me back home!" The Smiling Man turned to a body he had propped up by the fire. "You know, don't tell anyone this, but that Lauren is such an egotistical little harpy! That's right, I said it. She has no sense of direction or decoration! She wanted to put teeth on the table in the break room! That is _so_ last year's décor! Everyone knows that intestine is the in thing for table décor!" The Smiling Man chuckled.

He seemed to be enjoying this. And why shouldn't he? He just made some new friends and he had a whole desert to explore. New places to see, new friends to make, and new employees to train! The Smiling Man sat straight on the log and smiled at the sky. He looked down at his cooking squirrel meat and sighed happily.

* * *

**Hi, hi once again, my loves!**

**So, how was the latest episode of Welcome to Night Vale? Wasn't it just so cute?! Oh man, I was fan-girling all over the place! I swear I live for these episodes. Not much to report for this one, except I got tons of inspiration from the lovely people on the live stream I attended. You know who you guys are and you are awesome!**

**So, let's keep this short: I want a juicy review from you, and you want more stories from me. So, let's make this happen, hmm? Leave me a review and tell me how I did!**

**Oh, and check me out on Tumblr! It's lunapeachielovesyou dot tumblr dot com**

**So, you know what comes next! Read, review, and be merry!**

**Fallout belongs to Bethesda. Welcome to Night Vale belongs to Commonplace Books.**


	3. Outpost Gossip

_The Long Road Home_

Outpost Gossip

"…_and we're back. This is Mr. New Vegas, and I feel something magic in the air tonight and I'm not just talking about the gamma radiation. More news for you: A Legion camp was found completely destroyed earlier this morning by a group of NCR soldiers out on routine patrol, which makes this the third confirmed report of Legion soldiers still in and around the Nevada and New Vegas areas. The camp was described as: 'A horrific scene of body parts and blood not unlike a deathclaw attack'. When asked if there were any confirmed deathclaw sightings in the area, the soldiers couldn't confirm. Also in the headlines…"_

The outpost, save for the radio, was a pretty quiet place. It was a place for caravans and their Brahmin to relax before heading in or out of the Mojave. With the Hoover Dam secured and the Mojave going through the annexation period, caravans could leave the Mojave Outpost, though it was still a lengthy procedure. With the Legion retreating east, most people saw this as a chance to get out of the New Vegas area and into the relative safety of the New California Republic.

Safety, along with peaceful sleep-filled nights, was also a commodity that people paid good caps for. Nothing had been truly safe in the area known as Nevada in quite some time, but this newfound spirit of peace and celebration was a nice welcome from the cowering for safety and 'the end is nigh' mindset people had.

"Alright, so that's a whiskey straight for the crack shot…" shouted the bartender, placing a shot glass of whiskey and the bottle itself in front of the woman. "…and a…Nuka-Cola for the girl in the robes." The bartender continued, placing an open bottle of Nuka-Cola in front of the other woman.

Rose of Sharon Cassidy, or just Cass as she preferred, sat next to Veronica Santangelo and sipped her whiskey with a quiet dignity that only she seemed to acquire. Cass moaned happily as the whiskey slid down her throat and stung her belly. Veronica, who wasn't much of a drinker, just stared at Cass with disturbed fascination. She was somewhat intrigued that Cass could drink so much and not fall over. Just smelling alcohol of any kind, even rubbing alcohol, made Veronica tipsy.

After doing their part for helping the NCR hold the dam, Cass decided it was probably time to start traveling again. Veronica, feeling restless, decided to join her. Nothing was really keeping them cooped up in the Presidential Suite of the Lucky 38, but it was hard to stay with the NCR took it over, making Penthouse Suite their new base of operations. Cass and Veronica were the only two left in the Presidential Suite when they were politely asked to leave. Veronica had no problem packing her meager belongings and heading out, but it was Cass that had to be dragged out by a reprogramed Securitron and threatened with legal action. She still lamented not packing up all the top-shelf whiskey.

It seems all of Courier Six's friends had returned to their normal lives after the events at Hoover Dam. Except for Arcade, who had left in such a rush, he barely packed anything. When it was found out his family used to be part of the Enclave, Arcade was thrown out of the Followers camp in Freeside. Forced to give up his lab coat, Arcade had sat in the Lucky 38 suite for days, pondering what he'd do next. He had a quick answer when it was realized by the NCR that a former member of the Enclave was roaming around freely. It didn't matter that Arcade wasn't part of it, just related to someone who was. One morning, when Six went to wake him up, his bed was empty. Six and Veronica were probably the only two people (including the floating duraframe eyebot and the Cyberdog) that actually missed Arcade.

Boone had reenlisted, finding his passion for blowing up heads from afar renewed with the NCR win of Hoover Dam. Veronica, who had always been the closest to Six, noticed she took his departure the hardest. She believed that was why she spent so much time in that dinky hotel room in Novac. Not because it was a good vantage point, like Six argued. It was Six who escorted Boone to Camp McCarran, and she lingered outside the gates for the longest time when they had said their good-byes. Boone wasn't the easiest person to get close to, but Six always felt there was more to him. Everyone was surprised to find out that he was the youngest in Six's group at age twenty-six. It didn't stop Veronica (who was only a year older than him) from calling him "Gramps", due to his grumpy nature.

Rex the Cyberdog had been returned to the King out in Freeside. Six was sad to see him go, but felt Rex was happier there. ED-E, being a robot with nowhere else to go, usually stayed somewhere near Six at any given moment. But while she was out on her scouting mission, ED-E remained in Veronica's care. At the moment, ED-E was waiting outside, hovering uncomfortably as confused soldiers gawked at it. Lily had gone back to Jacobstown simply because she missed her Bighorners. Raul, having found his purpose as a _vaquero _once again, set out not long after Hoover Dam.

It wasn't that Veronica didn't appreciate Cass letting her come along, but she was a bit unhappy that Cass wasn't as talkative as Six. Veronica played with her bottle of Nuka-Cola and cleared her throat. "So, do you really think it was a scouting mission Six went on?" Veronica asked, after a long silence.

Cass was about to take another sip when she stopped and stared at Veronica. "Where else would she go?" Cass answered, finishing her sip. "Out looking for Gannon? It'd be suicide for him to come back to the Mojave with the NCR, the Brotherhood, and a whole, dare I say, 'legion' of bounty hunters after him. Not that I was sad to see him go. Gannon had a way of getting on my nerves. If Six wasn't there to stop me, I would have dragged him to the top of the 38 and thrown him off myself."

Veronica picked up her bottle of soda but didn't drink it yet. "Well, ever since Gramps reenlisted, Six has looked pretty restless. She'd talk about going out and maybe take another job with the Mojave Express, but she seemed so Hell-bent on staying in that dump, Novac."

Sighing, Cass poured herself some more whiskey. "Six can handle herself. I mean, she survived being shot in the head and still took out a Legion Legate in the end. I'm sure that no matter what rest of the Mojave throws at her, she's got it." Cass was about to admit she missed traveling with Six when the bar doors opened. Both Cass and Veronica looked up as two disheveled travelers came into the bar and sat in a far corner table, away from the rest of the bar patrons.

While they looked like anyone else who'd wander into the outpost pub while waiting to get into California, something about these men looked off to Cass and Veronica. The men had an alert stone-faced look and a thousand mile stare only granted to those who have seen atrocities committed and did nothing. They were too clean-shaven to be men who had been traveling the Mojave for a while. They were uniform in their walk, as if threatened with death if they walked out of turn. Not even the NCR was that strict. Both girls could tell these were Legion Deserters from a mile away.

It was Veronica who jabbed Cass's side and motioned in the direction of the two men. "Hey, check out Buzz Cut and Blonde-Boy in the corner." Veronica whispered as Cass turned her head only slightly. The two men sat up straight and looked around, as if expecting something unpleasant. One man, obviously older, had a buzz cut with some greying black stubble coming up. The other, who looked no older than Veronica, had puffy cheeks and a blonde crew cut that was starting to grow out.

Cass admired men who had the _cojones_ to leave the Legion, seeing as most that do don't get very far. It probably took days of planning and plenty of gun power for these two to get away. Despite how clean-shaven they were, their clothes looked worn. Cass often wondered how what was basically a wide-scale raiding party looked so clean all the time. Veronica would often answer that keeping up appearances was important.

In their obviously stolen clothes and paranoid glances around the bar, the two men sat uncomfortably. The bartender, knowing these two won't even bother to get up and get anything, walked over to the table with a hand on her hip. "Can I get you boys anything? I have some whiskey, rum, beer, and we got the old refrigerator working now, so I got some ice cold Nuka-Cola and Sunset Sarsaparilla…"

One of the men looked up at the woman, as if insulted that she'd be so brazen to talk to him. He collected himself, remembering his tact, and cleared his throat. "Do you have any purified water?" he asked, looking like he was holding back the urge to shout an order at this woman.

"Feeling parched? Yeah, we just got some purified water in from a trader. Comin' right up." The bartender left and came back after a minute with two bottles marked "PURIFIED" in marker on a piece of tape stuck to the side. "Yep, gettin' that old refrigerator fixed as helped business a lot. As hot as it gets here, it's good to have something cold. Plus, it keeps moral up too, what with all those caravans being stuck in limbo still out there. Can I get anything else for you boys? I got some Fancy Lad cakes collecting dust on a shelf if you're feeling adventurous." she asked.

The men shook their heads, paid their caps, and watched the bartender walk away, murmuring about how she'll never get rid of those damn cakes taking space on a shelf. Cass had an adventurous look in her eye that only came about when a way to get easy caps fell into her lap. Veronica hated that look because Six got it a lot too. The NCR would pay good money to have some Legion Deserters in their hands, seeing as the one they had was still playing the quiet game in a holding cell at Camp McCarran. Legion Deserters would probably trade information for freedom and protection from Legion Assassins.

"That was close." The man Veronica called Buzz Cut whispered to his partner. "If we hadn't hid in that abandoned gas station, they would have found us."

The man Veronica called Blonde-Boy nodded and picked up his drink. "It was a risk taking the long way here, but I'd rather not deal with any deathclaws. Of course, fighting off deathclaws would have been a child's tea party compared to facing...that again." Blonde-Boy sipped his drink and sighed. "I was hoping to never see Nipton again, either."

"Let's just get into the NCR and get on with our lives. That's was what we agreed on. We'll be safe there, especially from that…" Buzz Cut shivered and squeezed his bottle. "I was considering leaving for the longest time, but that confirmed it for me. Better to die by the hands of an NCR firing squad than die like that."

Cass was suddenly interested in the men's conversation. "There was nothing left to bury." Blonde-Boy muttered, with a terrified stammer. "He just kept smiling."

"Don't speak out loud of it!" Buzz Coat warned in a whisper that the girls still heard. "The less these imbeciles know about that monster, the better. Caesar put up a reward for that monster's capture, and it's likely the NCR will do the same." Hearing Buzz Cut's pronunciation of Caesar as "_KAI-zar_ "confirmed their suspicions that these were indeed Legion Deserters. "Of all the NCR and tribal deaths we've had part in, can you really stomach having deaths by that thing weigh down on your conscience?"

Blonde-Boy shook his head desperately. "No, no more. I can't stand closing my eyes and seeing that scene anymore. If we hadn't agreed to knowing of that 'Smiling God' he talked about, we probably wouldn't be alive ourselves." Both men drank from the bottles deeply. "I'm just happy to be getting out of the Mojave. With that thing roaming around, I'm not worried about you-know-how finding us. Let's just keep our heads low, give those guards the travel papers we fished off those travelers, and get as far from this place as possible."

After that, Buzz Cut and Blonde-Boy didn't talk much. They drank their waters, ordered a few more for the road, and left. When the bartender left to wipe down the bar at the other end, Cass looked over at Veronica and started to laugh. "Can you believe those two?" she whispered, trying to keep her laughter down and not spill her whiskey at the same time. "They probably got attacked by some feral ghoul. Legionaries can be such idiots. They're so brainwashed, they think everything is some catastrophe sent down by long dead old world gods."

Veronica didn't seem to share Cass's amusement. "Doesn't sound like any ghoul I've ever heard of, and I once spent an hour discussing types of ghouls with Raul. Feral ghouls don't normally talk, and they most certainly don't speak of a 'Smiling God'. Feral ghouls only have two functions as far as I know: walk and kill. And they said it kept smiling? I've never heard of a feral ghoul smiling."

Cass rolled her eyes. "Feral ghouls are basically walking corpses. After a while, some more meat falls off around the cheeks and he'll look like he's smiling."

"But anyone with a pea-shooter can take down a feral ghoul. This thing took out an entire Legion raiding party and left two grown men scared of their own shadows." Veronica, who still hadn't started her soda, played with the bottle cap a bit. "And apparently that's not the first time they've come into contact with it. Caesar is offering a reward to anyone who takes that thing down."

"Which means…" Cass started, pushing her empty shot glass and whiskey bottle away. "…the pissing contest has begun." Cass stood up and stretched a bit.

"What do you mean?" asked Veronica, grabbing her soda.

Cass straightened her hat and made sure she still had her rifle strapped to her back. "This is good insider information. I don't think whatever that thing is exclusively goes after Legion soldiers. Odds are it's going to be taking out something the NCR actually cares about, like merchants with pure water or other NCR soldiers. And when that happens, the bounty gets announced while we get a head start and beat the mercenaries. A few hundred caps to take down a feral ghoul that's just a little too fast and slightly smarter than a band of Legionaries is probably the easiest money I've ever made. Not counting the time I sold Gannon is glasses back when I won them in that poker game."

"First of all, you were using marked cards." Veronica protested. "Second, this doesn't sound like some feral ghoul. It could be some escaped prisoner from some psycho ward somewhere in the NCR."

"Even better!" Cass shouted as she started to leave. "The NCR will pay good caps to have that whack job off the roads. Are you coming or what?"

Veronica, sighing, took her soda and left right behind Cass. Veronica wasn't the biggest supporter of this plan. In fact, she thought it was insane. "Before we go off into the wastes and start shooting random ghouls, we should at least figure out where and what this thing actually is. Even Six got information before she went off."

"Six was never a shoot-first type of person." Cass stopped for a moment to think. "Luckily, I am!" Cass continued out with Veronica trailing behind her.

The bartender walked over to where Cass and Veronica had been sitting and cleaned up their mess. The bar was quiet now, but she knew that wouldn't last long. She looked over at the clock and noticed the time. Not even an atom bomb could stop a clock. It was getting closer to the time when most of the patrol took their breaks. She decided to dust off the Fancy Lad Snacks box in hopes it'd be more appealing. As if on cue, an entire herd of NCR patrollers came in and took seats around the bar and by the walls.

The soft murmur of conversation and gossip filled the air as the bartender started handing out drinks. Topics like "a lot of caravans today" and "did you see that weird flying robot outside?" circled all around the bar like a cozy little old world diner. At that moment, the music on the radio stopped.

"_Howdy folks, it's Mr. New Vegas, and I have a good feeling about all of you listening. Here are our top stories: Rumors persist about a killer called 'The Smiling Man' walking the roads of the Mojave attacking travelers and soldiers alike. Survivors of his attacks have only the following advice to give: Do not, repeat, DO NOT let the smile fool you and say yes when he asks if you've heard of the Smiling God. The 'Smiling Man' is described as being not tall or short, not thin or fat, having a grotesque smile with eyes as black as obsidian, and smelling vaguely of blood and animal viscera. 'The Smiling Man' was last seen heading toward I-15 in a yellow suit with a red bow tie. NCR officials encourage any local law enforcement to take this matter seriously and if seen, approach with extreme caution…"_

* * *

**Hi, hi again!**

**I've decided to keep this chapter short as not to get into too much at once. The story will segue between Six and Carlos looking for the other door to Cass and Veronica, along with ED-E, looking for the so-called "Smiling Man" terrorizing the wastes every few chapters or so. Maybe every two chapters, or whenever I feel like, I haven't decided yet. Eventually, they will all meet up. When and how? I haven't decided that, either.**

**Just stay tuned to find out!**

**Oh, and if you have the time, check out my tumblr page! It's filled with all kinds of goodies, like updates on my fics, pictures of my life, and anything else I find interesting. There is a link in my profile but for the lazier bunch (I'm not judging haha), just use lunapeachielovesyou dot tumblr dot com just replace the dots with…yeah, you get it.**

**So, how did I do? Let me know by leaving a review and keep this story going! Read, review, and be merry!**

**Fallout belongs to Bethesda**

**Welcome to Night Vale belongs to Commonplace Books**


End file.
